Marinduque Vacation-An Alternative to Boracay, if Night Life is not required!

Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Please do not forget to read the latest national and international news in the right side bar of this blog. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer-Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Monday, July 27, 2015

Chapter 3: Ancestral Roots of the Nieva Clan of Marinduque

This is the continuation of Rene's Nieva article on the ancestral roots of the Nieva clan from Marinduque. Chapter 2 was posted on July 13, 2015. Enjoy!

CAMALIG: ROOTS OF THE NIEVAS : In 1579, ten years after the first group of Spaniards led by Captain Luis Enriquez de Guzman and including Augustinian priests arrived in Camalig and started colonizing and Christianizing the residents, a Spanish galleon led by shipmaster Mateo de Saz and Captain Martin de Goiti also came to thesettlement. They formally took it over as a Spanish colony, one of the earliest places in the Philippines to be brought under the Spanish flag. They were accompanied by Franciscan missionaries Father Pablo de Jesus and Fr. Bartolome Ruiz who continued the colonization drive initiated by the Augustinians.

Camalig and the rest of nearby settlements that would eventually comprise the province of Albay always had abundant natural resources and a thriving agricultural industry consisting of coconut, rice, sugar and abaca plantations. This was because they were close to Mayon Volcano, which through regular eruptions throughout the ages has deposited rocks that have decomposed and weathered into rich soil.

Not content with being just farmers, albeit prosperous ones, the more adventurous and enterprising residents of Albay including the Nievas of Camalig engaged in trading in these farm product and putting up plantations elsewhere during the Spanish era. This brought them westward to provinces in the Southern Tagalog region including Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas (the former name of Quezon), Marinduque (formerly part of Tayabas) and Mindoro.They eventually settled in these provinces, growing further in wealth and political over the three centuries of Spanish rule. They became members of the Illustrado class that was considered just below the governing Spanish overlords.

Further proof that the Nievas were originally from Camalig was when sometime in late 1990s. I met a Manila congressmen, Ernesto "Banzai" Nieva. Intrigued by the similarity in our surname, I asked him if he was a native of Tondo, which he represented in Congress. He said his family moved to Tondo from Laguna when he was young but as far as he knew his forebears were originally from Camalig. He was then being groomed by the Liberal Party in Manila (led at the time by his ally and my Ateneo classmate Lito Atienza) for either Vice Mayor or Mayor. But unfortunately he died quite young (only in his late 40s or early 50s at most).
Not all the Nievas have left Camalig for parts beyond though. To this day, there are still residents of town who carry the Nieva surname. One time, while on a tour of the Bicol region with some friends, we passed by Camalig on the way to Legazpi and I saw houses with signs on which were written Attorney this or Doctor that. My research also showed that Nievas have occupied local government positions over the years or owned businesses such as gaming cock farms and the like.

I've also seen photos of some Nievas in Camalig over the Internet and noticed that they were invariably good-looking, which must prove that this must have been a common Nieva family. Said good looks have been bolstered and further enhanced through intermarriages with men and women from other races like the Spaniards, the Chinese, and even the French.

Personal Note: I have met more than a hundred of Macrine's relatives here in the US and in the Philippines . They are not only good looking, smart but also humble. Most of them have accomplished lives and successful financially. Of course, there are a few exceptions. If you are following this series, do you know the ancestry of your surname? I will be glad to hear from you.

Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center

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ABOUT ME

I am a retired Filipino-American who loves writing, gardening and photography. My wife ( of 58 years) and I enjoy our snowbird lifestyle between US and the Philippines.

We have a small but very private beach resort (above video) in the beautiful island of Marinduque, Philippines. I have several blog sites (ten), a personal blog, blogs about retiring or visiting the Philippines and about our beach resort-CHATEAU DU MER.

Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes
My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation.
Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming.
The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.
The Rambutan Tree and Fruits
The Lanzone Tree and Fruits
The Jack Fruit Tree
The Durian Fruit Tree

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Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Island

View of Mainland Marinduque from Tres Reyes Island-Click photo to link to Marinduque Awaits You